Jaunted - kr

This is What North Korea Calls a Cruise Ship

JetSetCD — 2011-09-12T10:18:40-05:00

Bad news: it now sucks more than ever to live in North Korea. Why? Because the good ol' DPRK just launched their first cruise ship, the Mangyongbong (pictured above). About the only thing it has going for it is that it floats, plus okay also the fun-to-say name. Technically having the option of taking a cruise should mean life is tad bit better, right? Well, the ship is so sad that North Koreans are better off without it.

Want to "cruise" on the Mangyongbong? Be prepared to board from a dirt-covered dock from a town near the border with Russia, leave your cell phone behind, bed down on bare-bones mattresses in a communal space and soak up the sun from plastic lawn chairs that'll probably be blown overboard by the wind before you can get to them. What a cruise!

Luckily it's not a very long cruise; the ship only does a 1-night journey from North Korea to the the special tourist zone of Mount Kumgang on the South Korean border. It's a beautiful place, but it's also the focus of a constant ownership tug-of-war between North and South Korea, so what we're saying is this is a cruise where you should definitely opt for the extra travel insurance.

Check out more photos of the inaugural cruise here.

[Photo:AFP/Daily Mail]

Get a Hole in One in Pyongyang in April, During the North Korea Amateur Golf Open

JetSetCD — 2011-02-25T11:59:12-05:00

So you want to go to North Korea but can't figure out a plausible excuse, hmm? How about golf?! That's right...golf. According to the Wall Street Journal, North Korea is hosting an Amateur Gold Open from April 26-30 and it may not be too late to enter (since we happen to know someone who just did).

The fee is 999 Euro ($1,375), but at least it gets you more than just a few hours' fun of hitting some balls around in the 18-hole Pyongyang Golf Complex; the fee also includes "travel by train into the country from China, visas, meals and accommodation, as well as a 3 day tour of the country." That's 5-star accommodation in Pyongyang, mind you.

North Korea Wants Americans to Come Over and Play, Please

Jennifer Kester — 2010-01-21T15:20:04-05:00

The recession is hitting everyone and every tourist destination quite hard, so much so that North Korea is trying make nice with the United States to get some tourism dollars back into its struggling economy.

Sure, there's that little nuclear weapons issue and that whole 200,000 political prisoners matter, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is willing to let bygones be bygones and allow more Americans into the country. Kim is asking South Korea's Hyundai Group to restart its tours, which crossed over through the North, in an effort to lure in more tourists. But don't expect to do any exploring on your own during these trips. Such tours, which would begin in China and probably go for about about $1,000 to $2,175, would carefully rein in US travelers.

Start Planning Your North Korea 2010 Trip Now, Or Else

egw — 2009-11-17T13:29:29-05:00

They won't take our advice, but they'll still take our money: Despite an absence of diplomatic relations between the countries, Americans can still travel to North Korea, so long as you go when they want you to go, and with whom.

Visiting North Korea is allowed only during the annual Mass Games involving thousands of North Koreans performing complicated choreography and moving into intricate patterns like a college marching band on steroids. The games are normally held August through October, during which Westerners can travel with a tour group—since the government will assign you an escort to make sure you only see the North Korea they want you to see. Now is the time to start planning and booking those trips.

Help The Blind Read By Visiting North Korea

egw — 2009-10-20T14:28:40-05:00

Wilderness experts teach campers to leave a place better than they found it. A tour group responsible for more than half of all Westerners visiting North Korea has taken that sentiment to heart, asking travelers to donate to help children in the impoverished, often aid-rejecting country.

Koryo co-founders Josh Green and Nicholas Bonner, both Brits, came up with the idea for the company when Green was working for a shipping company in Pyongyang in the early '90s. Using his connections, they were able to connect with the Korea International Travel Company, an official government agency that ushers foreigners in and out of the DPRK, and now contribute to the Pyongyang International Film Festival and produce documentaries as well as leading tours.

North Korea Inviting South Korea Over For The Weekend

JetSetCD — 2009-08-19T08:49:37-05:00

Who's game for a nice little package trip to North Korea? Anyone? Bueller?

It was announced yesterday that Kim Jong-il is feeling a little neighborly lately and less bomby, and wants to restart family reunion trips from South Korea. Although South Korea hasn't yet said yes to allowing their people to venture over the border, North Korea is re-opening an enclave for reunions at Mount Kumgang, which was once a major money generator for the poor country.

Clinton Kicks North Korea Into Giving Back Jailed Journalists

JetSetCD — 2009-08-04T16:59:29-05:00

Thinking about heading to North Korea for the Arirang Mass Games? You better hope that former President Bill Clinton has got your back, just like he has with the two Current TV journalists who were arrested on the North Korean border in March and sentenced to 12 years in a hard labor camp for "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry.”

During Clinton's brief visit, which focused solely on negotiating the freedom of the women—Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36—and not North Korea's recent nuclear tests, he met with good old Kim Jong-il, who wasn't looking all that ill.